Why I reread a text three times before sending it
It's 10:47 pm. The text has been written for a minute, and your thumb is still hovering over the arrow.
Three sentences, sometimes one line. "Can we meet this week" becomes "Could we maybe meet this week, if you have time, no worries either way". The meaning hasn't moved. The weight has. You take out an exclamation mark that looked too pleased, you add a smiley to soften a line that read flat. Then you send it, usually the first version. Honestly, it was already fine the first time.
What you're rereading isn't the wording. It's their face while they read it, and what they'll think of you. There is no right version, because you're not rereading it for them, you're rereading it for every reaction they might have. The word you cut, you put back two lines down. And what it takes isn't the message, it's your evening.
You're not rereading it for them, you're rereading it for every reaction they might have.
I was wondering…
What would you lose if someone got the first version of you, the one you never quite trust?